


Only Honest When It Rains

by greyvvardenfell, moonmoth (greyvvardenfell)



Series: Moth & Raven [20]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Thunder and Lightning, Thunderstorms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 14:25:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19814164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyvvardenfell/pseuds/greyvvardenfell, https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyvvardenfell/pseuds/moonmoth
Summary: Julian reveals his fear of thunderstorms to Reyja after one stops them from going outside to stargaze.





	Only Honest When It Rains

“I'm—” Julian paused, worrying the loose threads at the edge of the curtain he’d pulled back from the upstairs window. “I’m sorry about the rain.”

A fierce gust of wind lifted the sheet of rainwater and threw the droplets sideways against the glass. Julian flinched away from the barrage, closing the small space left between Reyja and himself.

She didn’t miss the tremble in his arm as it curled around her waist. “You can’t control the weather, Juley,” she said. “The stars are still going to be there tomorrow night, and the night after that.” When he didn’t answer, she reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers and pulling him away from the sight of the storm. “Come on,” she murmured. “Let’s sit down.”

The space above the shop was just as small and cluttered as it had been when Asra lived there instead of Julian. Worse, even, since Reyja had decided that such a tall bedfellow required a larger bed. They'd discussed moving, but no plans had yet been made and tonight wasn’t the time to think about it.

“What’s wrong, lovely?” 

His smile was forced and he knew she knew it. “Even at the beginning, I couldn’t hide anything from you. Do you remember? The morning after we met, what was it, the third time? Well, re-met. Met again. After we spent the night at Mazelinka’s. When. When we…”

 _Ah, Julian’s patented babbling._ Reyja held his gaze, keeping her mouth shut, until the flow of his words tapered off and the blush on his cheeks rose to replace it. He dropped his eyes to their clasped hands, stroking his thumb over hers again and again as the silence lengthened, broken only by the patter of rain outside.

Finally, with a sigh that lifted his slumped shoulders, he gave in. “Right. Yes. Well, darling, I can’t say that I’m overly fond of…” With his other hand, Julian gestured vaguely towards the window. “Storms like these bring back memories I’d rather not remember.”

Reyja felt her heart shudder. “The shipwreck,” she breathed, more to herself than him. But Julian nodded miserably and swallowed, risking a glance at her. 

“I can handle it, handle them, most of the time,” he said, squeezing her hand tighter. “But tonight. This one. It’s— I’m sorry—”

A bright flash illuminated the room even through the drawn curtain and Julian jumped, whipping his head toward the window and lurching toward Reyja at the same time. He pulled their joined hands to his chest and wrapped his other arm around her broad shoulders, nearly hauling her into his lap. As the bass-deep growl of thunder followed, Reyja felt his heartbeat redouble, pounding madly against his ribs as though it could urge him to flight on its own, if only it worked hard enough.

“Oh, Jujubee,” she said softly, pressing a kiss to his jawline. “You have nothing, absolutely nothing, to apologize for.” Reluctantly, Reyja pulled her hand free of his only to wrap her arms around his neck in a tight embrace, combing through the thick auburn waves at the back of his head and rocking him. She felt his arm slide from her shoulder to her waist, his long legs shifting to give her room to get closer.

“But it’s only weather,” he mumbled into her skin as he brought his other arm around her. “An accumulation of moisture from the sea and—”

“It isn’t, though, is it?" She tugged lightly on his hair to make him lift his head and rested her elbows on his shoulders. “You said so yourself. They’re memories you’d rather not remember.”

He closed his eyes, pained, but she pressed on.

“You’ve done so well getting to this point, Jul. To be able to get back on a ship at all? And then to sail the world and have all the adventures you’ve had and, _and_ —” Reyja paused, kissing him gently so his eyes would flutter open. “—to be able to tell me what’s bothering you.”

Julian flushed again, this time from the praise. “You, ah. You deserved to know. This was supposed to be your night and I ruined…” He stopped himself, chastened. “Plans changed.”

Another burst of white light and crack of thunder made Julian duck his head into Reyja’s chest again and tighten his hands in her shirt. She folded herself over him and held him close, feeling his muscles relax as he breathed in her scent.

“You’re right, plans changed,” she said after several moments. Idly, she traced a protection sigil over Julian’s muscular back, between his shoulder blades, though she didn’t charge the invisible lines with magic. “And it’s okay.” She kissed the crown of his head to mark her words.

Julian stirred to peer into her eyes with his arms still snug around her. “How did I find you, my darling?” he whispered. “What did I do that made me so lucky?”

Reyja smiled. “You survived and saved your baby sister from the worst storm of the century. You travelled the world to learn from the very best and hone your skills as a doctor. And you saved a city from a killer plague by coming back from the dead.” She leaned closer, resting her forehead against his. “That’s the how, technically. But as for what you did luck-wise? That’s just because you’re you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Is it confusing to have two OCs with the same name in different fandoms? Maybe. Is it also confusing to ship two different OCs with the same character within the same fandom (although to be fair Otheron/Julian is an old ship and I ship Otheron with Nazali now)? Also maybe. Do I care about either of those things? A little but not enough to stop me from doing them.


End file.
